22,152 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
Knowing what zone you are in would be very helpful. If you're in zone 8 or higher you may not need to do anything. In zone 7 some winter protection might be advisable. In zones 6 and lower you will need to protect it more heavily. If you have an unheated garage and are able to move the whiskey barrel in to it that would probably be the easiest way to protect it. The only thing you would need to remember is to water about once a month through the winter.
Helpmefind lists only Vintage as a supplier of Midnight, unfortunately.
Darker red, fragrant rose possibilities: Velvet Fragrance, Firefighter, Barcelona (aka Francis Dubreuil) Barcelona has a cupped rather than high-centered form. 'Deep Secret' is a darker but looks like it might be a little more difficult to find.
Oklahoma, Crimson Glory, Chrysler Imperial are other fragrant reds.
'Black Bacarra' has very dark red flowers, but they have little fragrance, and the flowers are smallish.
I'm sure others will offer more suggestions, perhaps better ones. Cold-hardiness may be something to think about, since you are in CO.
Here is a link that might be useful: Deep Secret @ helpmefind roses
jerijen, hard pruned because it was a bareroot that had dried out tips when i planted it. couldn't pass it up for one dollar. I guess my main question is if it is normal for it to be weak stemmed. I strip leaves and 50 percent prune at the end of december or beginning of january in order to give my roses a time out or else they bloom all year round and then they look tired and haggard. My queen elizabeth gets hacked back three times per year because when left unchecked grows to 6 feet tall. my climate is awesome and rabbit gold probably helps too. the only rose i have a problem with weak stems is the just joey. the main canes are fantastically strong but the shoots off the main canes are pretty weak.
If you like apricot, try Royal Sunset - its beautiful! For reds, Dublin Bay and Dortmund. White - I love my Sally Holmes. I cut it like a standard - it is loaded with white blooms that are carried up past my head - it really stands out. I adore America - its a very different coral type shade that you might like. I am enjoying Crown Princess Margareta, though mine is paler than David Austin's photos of it. For a small pink bloom, I love Clair Matin and its fragrant. If you like orange/apricot, the mini Work of Art is really pretty - I was admiring mine this morning. I have seen Fourth of July blooming and it was really something - don't know why I haven't bought it.
Judith
mmmm, shame it is so difficult to get hold of some of the European roses - in particular, there is a vibrant and ridiculously healthy little patio climber called Warm Welcome - for those keen on continuous orange bloomers, this is a terrific Chris Warner rose.
Mine is a pampered pet right now and will probably become even more spoiled if it keeps up with these outstanding blooms. Fragrant Cloud has really grown on me. Years ago, I didn't like the color at all but I have seen some real stunners over the years which had red-coral coloration and the color always seems to glow. I gave it to a neighbor who wanted a good fragrance rose and he planted it in front of blue green junipers so those roses shine out like traffic lights at a distance. I like to go over and smell them. I'm just going to have to get my own. I remember people saying the color was too harsh and they removed it when the dislike began for HTs years ago. Anyway, I'm glad that it gave us Velvet Fragrance.
I bought quite a few of these older HTs from Vintage too. They are just starting to bloom - they are really interesting - one has a big full bloom of rich pink with lots of petals, another is a deep Chinese red......so sad to think all these are going to no longer be in commerce. Maybe one day enough budwood will be passed around and some nurseries will start carrying them again. I have Golden Wings - it is really a pretty thing! I saw an older bush that was blooming its head off, so had to have it.
I don't want to give the impression that I really know what I'm talking about here--I don't think there have been trials that showed adding sulfate would help roses resist V-wilt. But it is true that roses build up sulfur internally as an immune response, and also true that they can't take up elemental sulfur from the soil. If you apply plain sulfur, over months or years, bacteria burn the sulfur and release acid, which then reacts with bases to form soluble, neutral sulfates such as gypsum and epsom salts. Meanwhile the pH goes down. If you want to get sulfur into the plant, it would be more efficient just to add the sulfate to the soil.
Neither gypsum nor epsom salts will affect pH much or contribute much to the buildup of harmful salts. Epsom salts can be harmful if there is already excess magnesium in the soil.
Gypsum is slow to dissolve, and four ounces added at planting time would last for a year or two, I think. It wouldn't hurt. I am just speculating that it might help.
Thanks for the tips Michael, and it's too late to try to give the impression you DON'T know what you're talking about. I realize these are educated guesses on your part, but I'll take that over many types of "expert" advice that gets published about roses.
Back to roseaholicme, the original poster - did you get enough information to help with your roses? You got some nice input from Amberroses in Florida about her strategies, and some advice from others for various fungicides that may help. I can't see any way the lizards in your yard would be contributing to the problem. Usually critters respond to food sources, and the fungal or wilt sources are usually spread because of air and weather conditions not critters. The lizards may be attracted to bugs that are more prevalent during various seasons, but it doesn't sound like your problem is bug-related either.
Hang in there, at the very least keep pruning below the damaged area, and feed with some alfalfa to promote new healthy canes in case the old ones keep showing the problem.
Cynthia
Right, but with cooler temperatures and less sunlight, roses cannot grow as fast, and so will need somewhat less fertilizer than in warmer seasons. This is true even in Florida zone 9, which gets a lot more winter sunlight than northern California.
Thank you for your suggestion, Dan. At this time my two insect problems are rose midge fly and cabbage moth caterpillars. They both affect the top/tip of new growth only. I direct a fine spray of Bayer Complete Insect Control only on the first 6 inches of new growth. Covering both sides of the leaves has not been necessary, just enough spray to just the drip stage. I do this every 10 days to two weeks. It takes very little spray and very little time to accomplish this.
If I use Merit as a soil fumigant (its the fumes that kill the midge and/or its pupae at soil level...just put your nose down there and smell for yourself). One can also smell the Merit, partidularly on a hot or humid day when one strolls through the roses. If you can smell it, it is poisoning you too, by breathing it in. A merit fumigation also kills earthworms and other beneficials, or poisons those that survive to the point where robins can be found lying dead in the rose garden...poisoned by eating contaminated earthworms and other insects.
Once a stem has buds developed to the size of a thimble for the hybrid tea type flowers, and adjusted smaller for the smaller blooming roses like Marie Pavie, the rose midge fly ignores the stem. I assume a more mature stem is not as 'tender/succulent' for midge maggots to damage, and either the female does not lay eggs on them or the eggs hatch and the maggots die? off.
Cabbage Moth caterpillars also desist damaging the foliage of new growth once buds are well formed, but in fact they never attack the buds in the first place (so far), and only do cosmetic damage to the foliage. They never go after foliage below the top six inches, again perhaps it is too tough for them or contains natural chemicals that repel them somehow.
Aphids and spider mites are easily controlled by washing them off with a direct, but gently water spray, usually repeated only once in a day or two. The spray is directed to the growing tips for aphids and to the underside of the lowest leaves for spider mites. It is remarkable how easy this method is to perform with great success...not using insecticides at all, just water.
Since I live in an old neighborhood in the inner city, there are few lawns of any size, thus my Japanese Beetle problems are very minimal. However my country/suburban friend's roses suffer terribly from late May to early September from Japanese Beetle hordes, due to the expansive lawns the prime feeding ground for Japanese Beetle larvae.
Again, thanks for the suggestion, but if you have an answer to my original question on battery powered sprayers I would surely appreciate your advice.
Back when we sprayed our roses, several things became apparent, some after decisions were made.
On a hill side, a loaded twenty gallon spray cart can drag an adult down hill. Limit the size of the reservoir to what you need and what your topography will allow your arm to pull.
Fewer plastic parts= better.
Many replacement parts are available at Farmer's Co-ops and can be upgrades on plastic.
Can the battery be recharged easily?
Are the wheels/tires the kind that can withstand penetration by rose thorns?
How easy is it to clean out? and how safe? Cleanliness between sprayings makes things much easier.
For your garden, how many gallons does it take for a spraying of the garden as the roses reach full size in late summer or fall?
You're in luck! Vintage Gardens still has it available, and they're having a sale (unfortunately, their going-out-of-business sale...). See link below. It's listed under "Ramblers".
:-)
~Christopher
Here is a link that might be useful: Ramblers at Vintage Gardens
If the Vintage plant is gone, try Foundation Plant Services at UC Davis. Kim
Here is a link that might be useful: Foundation Plant Services
The Kordesii climbers do very well in 5a, and many of the newer ones are every bit as beautiful as English roses, and easier to grow. Check out, for example, Rosanna, Laguna, Rosarium Uetersen. RU is quite simply, one of the greats, fabulous flower color and shape, easy to grow and almost never out of bloom. Both Pickering, which may be able to ship to the USA this year, and Palatine have good selections of hardy climbers.
Also look at another of the greats, Parade. Mine has grown like gangbusters--in zone 5a mind you, is fragrant, and shows very little BS in a very rainy year. Good bloom repeat, but not, so far, as rapid as RU.
A lot of "purples" look red. I wouldn't hold that against it. I think it's lovely!
Gospel is lovely, isn't it? The name makes me wonder - a red lettering reference? Or the purple of the passion? (and then turning to a deep burgundy). Oh my heavens, I think it is sold out in the Bible Belt already.
And it won a fragrance award!
The real excitement is that it's a HT. That vast divide between the bench and the garden may be narrowing this century! What a delightful thought.